Why does the young chap just across the road from me let his K plate Subaru (don't know which model) idle for about 10 minutes before he drives off? It starts first time and it idles smoothly. He starts it and then goes back into the house for ten minutes.
I know I really ought to be asking him but I don't know him to speak to and he might assume that my question means that it annoys me ~ which it doesn't. I'm just curious. I would have thought it was detrimental to the engine.
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L\'escargot.
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Only geusssing it may have a dump valve and they do not work properly till the engine is warm ,they also make a gushing noise which a certain breed of people like to hear.
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Dump valve has nothing to do with it - he's probably making sure the car is fully warmed up before driving off. Once it's warm it can be driven as a scooby should be without fear of damaging the engine.
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Good job he doesnt live found my way,it would be gone!
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That's just asking for it to be stolen.....
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That's just asking for it to be stolen.....
I think he's fairly safe doing it ~ it's a K plate! Also it's a low-crime semi-rural road largely inhabited by retired people in the backwaters of Lincolnshire. You're more likely to be knocked down by a motorised buggy than have a K plate Scooby stolen!
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L\'escargot.
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Dump valve has nothing to do with it - he's probably making sure the car is fully warmed up before driving off. Once it's warm it can be driven as a scooby should be without fear of damaging the engine.
But not the gearbox, tyres will still be stone cold...
Plus we all know it's the worst way to warm up a car.
ALso, the pistons will be red hot while the oil will still be cold, from what I've heard.
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When we were teenagers one of my mates neighbours was a vicar who had a Mk1 Fiesta. Every time he went out to start it from cold, he used to sit in it and hold the engine at about 3000 revs for a couple of minutes, to warm it up. We used to call him Reverend Rev-em-up; I don't know how long the Fiesta lasted!
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Honda handbooks (the ones I have anyway) say warm the engine for a few minutes before driving off - then remind you that this procedure is illegal in Germany!
As far as I can tell the heat spreads pretty uniformly through the engine in that time.
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Turbo timers/ remote start alarms can often keep the engine running with the doors locked.
Is the vehicle on the road or driveway? It's illegal to let a car's engine run whilst it is unattended of course.
I run a Jap turbo of similar power to the STi breed, and I don't see any worth in warming up in this method. Far better to just keep the revs low or to keep the boost low, until the engine oil is warm enough to fully protect the turbo.
As noted on here, this will let other areas of the car warm up equally, and is also more environmentally friendly.
Ian
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Idling for 10 minutes won't warm the engine up fully. To warm an engine up by idling will take a very long time, especially a Scooby, which will have a pretty big engine (probably 2.0?). Even when driving, it'll almost certainly take more than 10 minutes to warm up, even on a hot day.
I suspect that he thinks it will warm it up. It'll just waste precious fuel, increase engine wear (it'll idle with cold oil), and increase pollution. I bet he complains about the price of fuel lol.
Idling at 3000rpm before driving off isn't as bad as it sounds. At that speed I believe the engine will warm up at a good rate, and doesn't have much load. 2500rpm may be a bit friendlier, but 3000rpm is probably a lot better than idling.
My car manual recommends slow driving (but don't labour it) to warm it up. I tend to idle for about 10-30s before driving away, mainly to check that it's running OK etc, and then drive gently.
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Scarg, whay don´t you get his email address, then send this thread through to him?
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Pinch his car. That'll learn him.
If idling takes a long time to warm the engine up, how come a car sat in a traffic jam will heat up pretty quickly?
[Footnote: Anyone know what temperature the fan on a 1.9 XUD engine is supposed to kick in at? Mine sat at just over 90-ish degrees in heavy traffic today, didn't hear the fan come on.]
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I think the water must warm up much faster than the oil when idleing, or that's the feeling I have from what people are saying. I wonder if anyone could enlighten me why that is the case?
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You imply the car may be on the road. This is an offence under the road traffic act. Add to this id does not do the engine any good running at idle then the guy is ill informed or a pratt. Regards Peter
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[Footnote: Anyone know what temperature the fan on a 1.9 XUD engine is supposed to kick in at? Mine sat at just over 90-ish degrees in heavy traffic today, didn't hear the fan come on.]
Around 92c on my XUDT before the fans kick in.
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Ditto 92 deg on all my cars with that engine, never known one need to kick in though.
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A guy living opposite me (in a small cul-de-sac) used to reverse his TVR Chimera out of his garage at 7 in the morning every day and rev the nuts off it - then go back in the house and leave it running for 15 minutes, he would then emerge from the house and give it lots more reving before roaring off, tyres squealing etc.
This is a seriously loud car & if you wern't awake before he started up then you definately were after.
Had to laugh one evening whilst down the local pub chatting to the TVR owners next door neighbour ...The neighbour told me that the noise was right under his bedroom window and used to really annoy him but he said " I just lie in bed consolling myself with the thought that he's damaging his engine !!"
The offender has now moved to Suffolk...........
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